Search results matching tag 'SQL Saturday'http://sqlblog.com/search/SearchResults.aspx?o=DateDescending&tag=SQL+Saturday&orTags=0Search results matching tag 'SQL Saturday'en-USCommunityServer 2.1 SP2 (Build: 61129.1)SQL Saturday #567 Slovenia: Please Attend or Unregisterhttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/dejan_sarka/archive/2016/11/22/sql-saturday-567-slovenia-please-attend-or-unregister.aspxTue, 22 Nov 2016 12:35:54 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:62200Dejan Sarka<p>We would like to make an appeal to all of you who are registered to the <a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/567/EventHome.aspx">PASS SQL Saturday #567 Slovenia</a> event: please come. Please remember that this conference was made possible because of the speakers, who are using their time and come on their own expenses to give you state of the art presentations, because of the sponsors, who are giving us and financing the venue, the food, the raffle awards, and more, and of course, because of many volunteers who spend their free time to help with the organization. We are also paying a fixed number of meals to the catering company; therefore, we would throw the money away for those who are registered and would not come. In short: all you need to do is to wake up, get out of bed, get into a good mood, and come to the event to get top presentations, good food and meet friends! </p> <p>However, if you are registered and already know that you will not be able to attend: please unregister and make room for those who would like to attend, but are on the waiting list or did not register yet. use the Register Now button, and if you are already registered, you should get an option to unregister. </p> <p>Thank you very much for understanding, </p> <p>Matija, Mladen and Dejan</p>PASS SQL Saturday #567 Slovenia Schedulehttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/dejan_sarka/archive/2016/10/11/pass-sql-saturday-567-slovenia-schedule.aspxTue, 11 Oct 2016 15:12:38 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:61985Dejan Sarka<p>The schedule for the last SQL Saturday this year in Europe is <a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/567/Sessions/Schedule.aspx"><strong>alive</strong></a>. Hurry up with registrations, two months before the even we are already 70% full!</p> <p>Also don’t forget our great pre-conference seminars: </p> <ul> <li><a href="http://kompas-xnet.si/koledar-tecajev/pre---conference-devops-and-sql-server---expert-advice-for-teams-without-a-dba/SQL2016"><strong>DevOps and SQL Server - Expert Advice for Teams without a DBA</strong></a>, presented by <strong>William Durkin</strong> and <strong>André Kamman</strong>; and </li> <li><a href="http://kompas-xnet.si/koledar-tecajev/pre---conference-managing-bi-operations/SQL2016(2)"><strong>Managing BI Operations</strong></a>, presented by <strong>Chris Testa-O’Neill</strong>.</li> </ul> <p>See you in beautiful Ljubljana!</p>Where have I been? Where will I be? http://sqlblog.com/blogs/louis_davidson/archive/2016/10/03/where-have-i-been-where-will-i-be-sql-saturday-orlando-for-one-thing.aspxTue, 04 Oct 2016 03:24:00 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:61949drsql<p><i>SQL Saturday Orlando has been postponed. I won't be able to make it for the make up day, so that part of this blog has changed. Not the part about me loving the folks down there. They are still awesome!</i>&nbsp;</p><p>I again have not blogged so much that I don't show up in the list on SQLBlog.com, but it is about time to start blogging again. </p> <p><b>Where have I been?</b></p> <p>Good question that probably no one has actually asked. But let me show you. I have been stuck here, fingers attached to a keyboard:</p> <p><a mce_href="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/louis_davidson/2016-10-03-09.50.05_2C548C81.jpg" href="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/louis_davidson/2016-10-03-09.50.05_2C548C81.jpg"><img title="2016-10-03 09.50.05" style="border-top:0px;border-right:0px;background-image:none;border-bottom:0px;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;display:inline;padding-right:0px;" border="0" alt="2016-10-03 09.50.05" width="363" height="188" src="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/louis_davidson/2016-10-03-09.50.05_thumb_2771D8C5.jpg"></a></p> <p>Over the past months, I have been sitting behind this desk, writing and editing. My "Pro SQL Server Relational Database Design and Implementation" book (<a title="http://www.apress.com/9781484219720" mce_href="http://www.apress.com/9781484219720" href="http://www.apress.com/9781484219720">http://www.apress.com/9781484219720</a>) is nearing completion. Jessica Moss and I turned in our last edit after tech review today. I am turning in the source code and bonus chapter on Triggers (where I include a really messy natively compiled trigger that duplicates a MUCH simpler trigger using interpreted code!).</p> <p>Second (and this is the first time I have mentioned it publicly), I am writing half of a book with another awesome person: <a title="https://www.amazon.com/Exam-Ref-70-762-Developing-Databases/dp/1509304916/" mce_href="https://www.amazon.com/Exam-Ref-70-762-Developing-Databases/dp/1509304916/" href="https://www.amazon.com/Exam-Ref-70-762-Developing-Databases/dp/1509304916/">https://www.amazon.com/Exam-Ref-70-762-Developing-Databases/dp/1509304916/</a>, but that is really been a lot of work in a very short time period. I am getting close to finished with my part on that one too.</p> <p><b>Where will I be?</b></p> <p>This Saturday, I will be at SQL Saturday Orlando, doing my "Let Me Finish… Isolating Write Operations" session.&nbsp; The abstract for this session is:</p> <p><i>OLTP databases can be constantly written to and reporting databases are written to at least periodically. In order to ensure consistent results, connections must be isolated from one another while executing, ideally with the lowest possible cost to concurrency. How this isolation is handled is based on the isolation level, whether the classic lock based or the newer optimistic scheme of the in-memory OLTP engine is used, or even if both engines are enlisted in the same transaction. In this session we will look at examples of how SQL Server isolates reading and writing operations from other writing operations to explore how this may affect your application through error messages and performance hits.</i></p> <p>I love the Orlando folks, and every year I hope my vacation plans (made 11 months in advance) sync up with their event (If you know me at all, you probably know I don't give up a day at Disney World for anything else. I mean, I am speaking while my wife is at Disney World AND at the same time as my UT Vols are playing Texas A&amp;M…)</p> <p>Is this the last time I do this session? Maybe. I do really like it, and it is the most natural session I have ever done (particularly a session with demos!) But I have done it a bunch of times this year, and I generally like to write something new every year (except perhaps for my Database Design Fundamentals chestnut.) I am thinking something around Row Level Security/Dynamic Data Masking. RLS for sure is a pretty cool topic that I can certainly see applying some day. The last time I jumped on a session idea about a new feature it was sequences… did not get as many attendees as some other sessions! Wouldn't hate doing a fun session some day too.</p> <p>Then I will be at the PASS Summit and MVP Summits late October and early November, before hibernating until around the </p> <p>My next blog will be a follow-up on last year's resolutions I made after PASS. If it arrives in time, I might even model the outcome of one of the resolutions as well. </p>Upcoming Performance Seminars: Charlotte and Vegas!http://sqlblog.com/blogs/adam_machanic/archive/2016/08/16/upcoming-performance-seminars-charlotte-and-vegas.aspxTue, 16 Aug 2016 17:06:00 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:61751Adam Machanic
<p>I am happy to report two more scheduled public deliveries of my new-for-2016 seminar, <i>Tuning Your Biggest Queries</i>! This seminar is all about how to approach difficult query tuning tasks by understanding exactly what the query optimizer is (and is not) doing with your data, how it internally works and thinks, and how you can take complete control.<span style="font-size:10pt;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size:10pt;">Thanks to great audience feedback I've made some tweaks and I think the content is getting better and better every time.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>The upcoming dates are:</p>
<p><b><a mce_href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tuning-your-biggest-queries-with-adam-machanic-tickets-26142935223" target="#" href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tuning-your-biggest-queries-with-adam-machanic-tickets-26142935223">Charlotte, NC - September 16</a></b> - Pre-conference seminar for SQL Saturday Charlotte.&nbsp;Note that this is almost sold out.</p>
<p><b><a mce_href="http://www.itdevconnections.com/dc16/Public/SessionDetails.aspx?FromPage=Sessions.aspx&amp;SessionID=1016488&amp;SessionDateID=1000990" target="#" href="http://www.itdevconnections.com/dc16/Public/SessionDetails.aspx?FromPage=Sessions.aspx&amp;SessionID=1016488&amp;SessionDateID=1000990">Las Vegas, NV - October 10</a></b> - Pre-conference seminar for IT/Dev Connections. An early bird rate is still in effect for this one.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="font-size:10pt;">Hope to see you there!</span></p>Conferences, User Groups, and Seminars Q3 and Q4 2016http://sqlblog.com/blogs/dejan_sarka/archive/2016/07/19/conferences-user-groups-and-seminars-q3-and-q4-2016.aspxTue, 19 Jul 2016 15:48:16 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:61623Dejan Sarka<p>I am closing my plan for the second semester of this year. Before listing the events I plan to attend, just a quick comment. I had conversation about some specific events and why don’t I visit them many times, especially about the events in vicinity. My answer is pretty simple. I try to plan my events for six months in advance. My schedule for the year 2016 is full. I simply can’t visit the events that are announced only couple of months in advance. I prefer long-term planning. </p> <p>Anyway, here is my list, pretty long again.</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.eventbrite.com/e/emsland-sql-server-user-group-sqlgrillen-2-tickets-25632657970">SQL Grill, Lingen, Germany</a>, August 19th: one presentation - Statistics with T-SQL</li> <li><a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/532/eventhome.aspx">SQLSaturday #532 - Oslo 2016</a>, September 2nd-3rd:</li> <ul> <li>Pre-conference seminar <a href="https://sqlsatoslo2016datamining.eventbrite.com/">Data Mining Algorithms in SSAS, Excel, R, and Azure ML</a></li> <li>Presentation <a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/532/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=47074">Introducing R and Using R in MS BI Suite</a></li> </ul> <li><a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/520/eventhome.aspx">SQLSaturday #520 - Cambridge 2016</a>, September 8th-10th:</li> <ul> <li>Pre-conference seminar <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/data-mining-algorithms-in-ssas-excel-r-and-azure-ml-by-dejan-sarka-tickets-21560337550">Data Mining Algorithms in SSAS, Excel, R, and Azure ML</a></li> <li>Presentation <a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/520/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=45338">Introducing R and Using R in MS BI Suite</a></li> </ul> <li><a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/555/eventhome.aspx">SQLSaturday #555 - Munich 2016</a>, October 8th: not confirmed yet.</li> <li><a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/538/eventhome.aspx">SQLSaturday #538 - Sofia 2016</a>, October 15th: not confirmed yet.</li> <li><a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2016/welcome.aspx">PASS Summit 2016</a>, October 25th-28th, Seattle, WA:</li> <ul> <li>Presentation <a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2016/Sessions/GeneralSessions.aspx#sid46226">Anomaly Detection </a></li> <li>Presentation <a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2016/Sessions/GeneralSessions.aspx#sid46227">Introducing R<strong> </strong></a></li> </ul> <li><a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/569/eventhome.aspx">SQLSaturday #569 - Prague 2016</a>, December 3rd: not confirmed yet.</li> <li><a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/567/eventhome.aspx">SQLSaturday #567 - Slovenia 2016</a>, December 9th-10th: since I am one of the organizers, this one is confirmed:-)</li> </ul> <p>And this should be enough for this year:-)</p>PASS SQL Saturday #567 Slovenia 2016http://sqlblog.com/blogs/dejan_sarka/archive/2016/07/07/pass-sql-saturday-567-slovenia-2016.aspxThu, 07 Jul 2016 14:36:47 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:61570Dejan Sarka<p><a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/567/EventHome.aspx">So we are back again</a><img class="wlEmoticon wlEmoticon-smile" style="border-top-style:none;border-left-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-right-style:none;" alt="Smile" src="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/dejan_sarka/wlEmoticon-smile_6E7DC8B1.png" /></p> <p>The leading event dedicated to Microsoft SQL Server in Slovenia will take place on <strong>Saturday, 10<sup>th</sup> December 2016</strong>, at the <a href="http://www.fri.uni-lj.si/en/">Faculty of Computer and Information Science of the University of Ljubljana</a>, Večna pot 113, Ljubljana (<a href="http://www.fri.uni-lj.si/en/about/how_to_reach_us/">http://www.fri.uni-lj.si/en/about/how_to_reach_us/</a>).</p> <p>As always, this is an English-only event. We don’t expect the speakers and the attendees to understand Slovenian<img class="wlEmoticon wlEmoticon-smile" style="border-top-style:none;border-left-style:none;border-bottom-style:none;border-right-style:none;" alt="Smile" src="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/dejan_sarka/wlEmoticon-smile_6E7DC8B1.png" /> However, this way, our SQL Saturday has become quite well known especially in the neighboring countries. Therefore, expect not only international speakers, expect international attendees as well. There will be 30 top sessions, two original and interesting pre-conference seminars, a small party after the conference, an organized dinner for the speakers and sponsors… But first of all, expect a lot of good vibrations, mingling with friends, smiling faces, great atmosphere. You might also consider visiting Ljubljana and Slovenia for couple of additional days. Ljubljana is a very beautiful and lively city, especially in December.</p> <p>In cooperation with <a href="http://kompas-xnet.si/english/">Kompas Xnet d.o.o.</a> we are once again organizing <strong>two pre-conference seminars</strong> by three distinguished Microsoft SQL Server experts:</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://kompas-xnet.si/koledar-tecajev/pre---conference-devops-and-sql-server---expert-advice-for-teams-without-a-dba/SQL2016"><strong>DevOps and SQL Server - Expert Advice for Teams without a DBA</strong></a>, presented by <a href="http://cloud-dba.eu/about-us/"><strong>William Durkin</strong> and <strong>André Kamman</strong></a>; and </li> <li><a href="http://kompas-xnet.si/koledar-tecajev/pre---conference-managing-bi-operations/SQL2016(2)"><strong>Managing BI Operations</strong></a>, presented by <a href="http://www.claribi.co.uk/"><strong>Chris Testa-O’Neill</strong></a>.</li> </ul> <p>The seminars will take place the day before the main event, on <strong>Friday, 9<sup>th</sup> December 2016</strong>, at <strong>Kompas Xnet d.o.o.</strong>, Stegne 7, Ljubljana. The attendance fee for each seminar is 149.00 € per person; <strong>until 31<sup>st</sup> October 2016 you can register for each seminar for 119.00 € per person</strong>.</p> <p>Hope we meet at the event!</p>A Couple-Three Thoughts and Questions About Swag at Community Eventshttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/andy_leonard/archive/2016/05/23/a-couple-three-thoughts-and-questions-about-swag-at-community-events.aspxMon, 23 May 2016 15:59:00 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:61265andyleonard
<p align="left"><a mce_href="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/andy_leonard/StupidPASSRuleNumber4312_1943D15E.jpg" href="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/andy_leonard/StupidPASSRuleNumber4312_1943D15E.jpg"><img title="StupidPASSRuleNumber4312" style="border-top:0px;border-right:0px;background-image:none;border-bottom:0px;padding-top:0px;padding-left:0px;border-left:0px;display:inline;padding-right:0px;" border="0" alt="StupidPASSRuleNumber4312" width="774" height="232" src="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/andy_leonard/StupidPASSRuleNumber4312_thumb_59104894.jpg"></a></p>
<p align="left">Item #23 in the Speaker Contract for the PASS Summit this year is shown in the image above. There’s been some discussion about concerns this item raises. At least one company that has delivered PASS precons in the past made a decision to <i>not</i> submit a precon for the PASS Summit 2016 due to the potential ramifications mentioned in the last sentence above.</p>
<p align="left">I’m pretty sure I understand the logic behind such a clause: It makes sense that PASS should protect the investment of sponsors and exhibitors. It makes some sense that if every speaker shows up with marketing swag, that will dilute the impact of the swag provided by exhibitors and sponsors (or will it? Please read on). So I understand some of the thinking behind the move.</p>
<p align="left">Is this the best way to achieve that goal, though?</p>
<p align="left">I have some experience with how Technical Communities and business communities interact. I wrote a series of posts about my experiences. A good summary may be found <a mce_href="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/andy_leonard/archive/2010/02/02/on-developer-communities-closing-the-loop.aspx" href="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/andy_leonard/archive/2010/02/02/on-developer-communities-closing-the-loop.aspx">here</a>. That link includes links to the previous articles in the series. </p>
<p align="left">My thoughts on this issue: </p>
<p align="left"><b>1. Is This Really a Problem?</b></p>
<p align="left">The first rule of troubleshooting is, “Is something broken?” It’s a fair question to ask because sometimes people identify a symptom that’s really not an issue, it’s merely a misunderstanding or (anti-) preference. I don’t know the answer to this question. It’s possible that one or some or all of the exhibitors at the PASS Summit complained that their swag value was being impacted by those pesky speakers who were handing out free stuff. I imagine it was that or something like that that triggered the language in the speaker contract. </p>
<p align="left">If I was the organizer and a company made that complaint to me, I’d ask, “Is your plan to shut down all competition by any means necessary?” I believe competition is healthy. <a mce_href="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/andy_leonard/archive/2011/03/10/coopertition.aspx" href="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/andy_leonard/archive/2011/03/10/coopertition.aspx">Coopetition</a> is even healthier. The PASS Summit is the largest SQL Server conference on the planet. Are they <i>really</i> going to <i>lose</i> sponsorships over speakers sharing videos or giving away t-shirts? Where else are the sponsors going to go to reach such a large audience? The answer is, “nowhere.” </p>
<p align="left"><b>2. What is the Problem We’re Trying to Solve?</b></p>
<p align="left">Does PASS exist to maximize the value of each sponsor / exhibitor dollar? I don’t see that written down anywhere (except, perhaps, in item #23 above). In the past, I’ve received criticism when I’ve pointed out PASS is a business and not a community. Am I against PASS being a business? Nope. Not at all. I’m against PASS representing itself as a community (or <i>The</i> SQL Community) and then pulling stunts like this. </p>
<p align="left">My chief complaint is this is bad business. I’m all about win-win scenarios. This is a lose-lose decision. Please allow me to explain.</p>
<p align="left"><b>3. Technical Communities and Business Participate in a Cycle</b></p>
<p align="left">In the case of user groups, as I <a mce_href="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/andy_leonard/archive/2010/02/02/on-developer-communities-closing-the-loop.aspx" href="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/andy_leonard/archive/2010/02/02/on-developer-communities-closing-the-loop.aspx">blogged</a> years ago, businesses benefit by sponsoring user group meetings, code camps, and SQL Saturdays because they get immediate access to people willing to give up some of their personal time to improve their skills. That’s a prime audience if you are a company looking for enthusiastic technical employees. </p>
<p align="left">UG meetings, code camps, and SQL events are also great places for people who are ready to share what they’ve learned with others. As speakers mature their presentations and presentation skills, they begin to attract a wider and broader audience. Some of those speakers will leverage that experience to join or form businesses. And some, not all, of those businesses will grow to the point that they sponsor these very Community events where they got their start.</p>
<p align="left">How does this happen? It’s different for everyone. Being able to share “company educational videos” is probably a good way to build one’s brand to the level where an individual can start or join a business. I know that has helped my career.</p>
<p align="left">Speaking of my career, I know from experience that it’s possible for people to share swag – links to videos, free tools and scripts, etc. – at Community presentations to grow a brand –business or personal. It’s possible for that brand to reach a level where an individual or company is able to begin sponsoring Community events – including the PASS Summit. </p>
<p align="left">Ask me how I know.</p>
<p align="left">Because of this, I find the policy of item #23 to be… shortsighted (that’s the nicest word I could come up with). I’d really like to see PASS revisit this issue and reconsider. I’m beginning to hear about SQL Saturday’s adopting similar policies, and that’s just disappointing.</p>
<p align="left"><b>4. (Bonus) Stick. No Carrot.</b></p>
<p align="left">&lt;rant&gt; </p>
<p align="left">Peeves make lousy pets. I know that and yet I cannot seem to take this one to the pound: It bothers me <i>immensely</i> when an organization shows up with demands and threats (stick) and no upside (carrot). </p>
<p align="left">Other professional conferences pay presenters and offer some recompense for travel and lodging. The PASS Summit allows speakers to attend for free. To be fair, admission includes a couple meals per day with access to more meals some evenings. So speakers get free admission and food. Some presenters at the PASS Summit are paying their own way – there’s no company behind them buying flight tickets and reimbursing hotel and per diem expenses. Some of these folks are consultants, and they are <strike>losing</strike> investing a week of otherwise billable hours to attend and present… in exchange for free admission (again, ask me how I know…). </p>
<p align="left">Is PASS going to begrudge them providing a link to an educational video or giving away a t-shirt? All the while calling PASS a (or even <i>The</i>) SQL Server community? All because they didn’t pay up (yet)? As I wrote, shortsighted.</p>
<p align="left">&lt;/rant&gt;</p>
<p align="left">Andy</p>
<p align="left"><i>Update! PASS announced an updated Speaker Contract in Adam's blog post <a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/Community/PASSBlog/tabid/1476/entryid/802/Improving-the-Speaker-Contract.aspx">Improving the Speaker Contract</a>.</i></p>Just over a week until SQL Saturday Atlantahttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/louis_davidson/archive/2016/05/11/just-over-a-week-until-sql-saturday-atlanta.aspxThu, 12 May 2016 01:06:43 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:61222drsql<p>I am looking forward to being both a speaker and an attendee at this year's <a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/521/eventhome.aspx" target="_blank">SQL Saturday in Atlanta</a> (it is number 521… wow). Don't know what SQL Saturday is? (I doubt that if you are reading this blog, but if so, <a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/" target="_blank">click here</a> quickly my friend).</p> <p>My topic this year is concurrency:</p> <p><strong>Let Me Finish... Isolating Write Operations</strong></p> <p><em>OLTP databases can be constantly written to and reporting databases are written to at least periodically. In order to ensure consistent results, connections must be isolated from one another while executing, ideally with the lowest possible cost to concurrency.&#160; How this isolation is handled is based on the isolation level, whether the classic lock based or the newer optimistic scheme of the in-memory OLTP engine is used, or even if both engines are enlisted in the same transaction. In this session we will look at examples of how SQL Server isolates reading and writing operations from other writing operations to explore how this may affect your application through error messages and performance hits.</em></p> <p>But beyond getting to teach about SQL for an hour, I look forward to a few things even more:</p> <p>1. Seeing so many friends - Many I don't even know their names, just their avatars on twitter. Many I have known for years from SQL events. And even my cousin's husband will be in attendance so I get to see them as well. So much time to hang out with friends from dinners, lunches, between sessions, etc.</p> <p>2. Sessions! - I personally go to these events to fill in gaps in my knowledge (and sometimes reinforcing my knowledge helps too!) Sessions like: Efficient Table Design by Alex Grinberg, Building Blocks of Cortana Intelligence Suite in Azure by Melissa Coates, Indexes from the Ground Level by Lindsay Clark, and definitely Vote or Die 2016: Which is Faster by Robert Verell (I saw it the first time, so I know the answers!).&#160; And there is a Women In Tech lunch with Rie Irish that will definitely be interesting as well.&#160; Of course, even if I say I am going to these sessions, if I make it to one or two it will be amazing. Too often I am distracted by some other session and end up learning something completely different.</p> <p>Will I see you there? (If not, maybe I will see you in <a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/491/eventhome.aspx" target="_blank">Pensacola</a> a few weeks later?)</p>Performance Tuning Seminars in Philadelphia and Indianapolishttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/adam_machanic/archive/2016/05/02/performance-tuning-seminars-in-philadelphia-and-indianapolis.aspxMon, 02 May 2016 17:26:00 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:61163Adam Machanic<p><span style="font-size:13.3333px;">Pretty much every environment I've ever seen follows the same patterns with regard to query size distribution: lots of typical run-of-the-mill queries (whatever is typical in that environment), followed by a diminishing number of larger queries (say, an order of magnitude bigger than typical), and a handful of gigantic queries that are several orders of magnitude beyond that.</span></p>
<p>When tuning a slow SQL Server, what's the main thing I look at improving? I focus, first and foremost, on that final set, containing the biggest, most complex, most long-running things I can find. I believe this makes a lot of sense on several levels: Not only are the biggest queries the "lowest hanging fruit" -- i.e. things I tend to be able to markedly improve quickly, but they're also usually the ones dragging down the rest of the system. Bring down the monsters and all of the little guys can breathe easier.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:10pt;">Unfortunately -- or fortunately if you enjoy these kinds of things as much as I do -- tuning the biggest and most complex queries can be quite a challenge. I often need to try to figure out what the query optimizer is "thinking," figure out which query hints I can or cannot leverage, and come up with interesting ways to re-write things to improve speed while maintaining the same logic. Dealing with big queries tends to be equal parts art (creativity) and science (raw application of logic). And the really interesting thing I've noted after tuning dozens of systems is that <b>i</b></span><b style="font-size:13.3333px;">t doesn't matter whether my "big" query is bigger than your "big" query</b><span style="font-size:13.3333px;">: It's the relative size of these beasts, as compared to whatever is standard, that makes them equally challenging and rewarding to tackle.</span></p>
<p>Recently I was looking for a new topic on which to write a seminar, and I decided that this topic would be perfect. Query tuning is one of my favorite pastimes in the SQL Server world, virtually every environment can use some tuning, and virtually everyone has to deal with these kinds of big queries.</p>
<p>So all that said, I'm proud to announce the first two deliveries of <b>Tuning Your Biggest Queries</b>, a full-day seminar I've put together for SQL Saturdays and conferences. </p><p>The two dates are:</p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size:10pt;"><a mce_href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tuning-your-biggest-queries-sql-saturday-phl-precon-2016-adam-machanic-tickets-24628429295" href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tuning-your-biggest-queries-sql-saturday-phl-precon-2016-adam-machanic-tickets-24628429295"><b>Friday June 3, Philadelphia</b></a>. Pre-con for <a mce_href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/517/EventHome.aspx" href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/517/EventHome.aspx">SQL Saturday Philadelphia</a>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:10pt;"><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/performance-tuning-your-biggest-queries-with-adam-machanic-tickets-25102194339?ref=ebtnebregn"><b>Friday August 12, Indianapolis</b></a>. Pre-con for <a mce_href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/530/eventhome.aspx" href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/530/eventhome.aspx">SQL Saturday Indianapolis</a>.</span></li>
</ul>
<div><br></div><div>Click through for abstract, pricing, and registration details.&nbsp;</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><span style="font-size:10pt;">If you can't make those dates, don't worry; more are forthcoming. Stay tuned.</span><span style="font-size:10pt;">&nbsp;</span></div><div><br></div><div>Questions? Comments? Leave me a message below if you need clarification regarding the content, deliveries, or future dates.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div style="font-size:13.3333px;">Hope to see you there!</div>Presenting on Concurrency Three Times This Month…Though Not Concurrentlyhttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/louis_davidson/archive/2016/03/15/presenting-on-concurrency-three-times-this-month-though-not-concurrently.aspxWed, 16 Mar 2016 02:36:15 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:60837drsql<p>Tomorrow night, March 15, I will be at the <a href="http://hrssug.thecloudlyfe.com/march-meeting-2016/" target="_blank">Hampton Roads SQL Server User Group’s March</a> meeting, then at <a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/486/eventhome.aspx" target="_blank">SQL Saturday Richmond</a> on Saturday the 19th, then finally back at home on the 25th for my <a href="http://nashville.sqlpass.org" target="_blank">home user group in Nashville</a> (which I haven’t seen much of this year) to present a presentation that I am pretty fond of after having done it once before in Nashville, and 20 times for myself.</p> <p>Here is the abstract:</p> <p><strong><font size="2">Let Me Finish... Isolating Write Operations</font></strong></p> <p><font size="2">OLTP databases can be constantly written to and reporting databases are written to at least periodically. In order to ensure consistent results, connections must be isolated from one another while executing, ideally with the lowest possible cost to concurrency.&#160; How this isolation is handled is based on the isolation level, whether the classic lock based or the newer optimistic scheme of the in-memory OLTP engine is used, or even if both engines are enlisted in the same transaction. In this session we will look at examples of how SQL Server isolates reading and writing operations from other writing operations to explore how this may affect your application through error messages and performance hits.</font></p> <p>What I like about it is that it takes the “fun” parts (okay, technical and nerdy parts) of my In-Memory DB Design session I had done several times last year (until SQL Server 2016 changed it beyond recognition) and makes it more applicable to more people. I cover the locking and optimistic concurrency controls that are in SQL Server 2016, and since RC0 has just arrived, I get to do it on what might be the release version of SQL Server. </p> <p>Hope to see you at one of these (and if not, I am scheduled to do this presentation again for <a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/491/eventhome.aspx" target="_blank">Pensacola’s SQL Saturday</a> in June).</p>